Workshop massing initial renderings

← Back to workshop series indexPublished: 2016 August 4

With some potential workshop massings sketched out, it’s time to explore some scale renderings.

The single monoslope roof (massing A) looks pretty good:

View from the residence:

Putting the high wall to the South and splitting the carport out with its own roof (massing B) looks a bit awkward with the front overhang / carport:

So lets explore some variations with massing A.

Roof slope variations

The minimum pitch for a PBR metal roof is ½ in 12.

(Since the roof isn’t visible, it’ll be fine if some tree debris collect on a low-slope roof.)

Assuming a minimum height of 7’ on the low side of the carport, here are pitches of 1, 2, and 3 in 12:

A roof pitch of 1 in 12 gives a 10.3’ high side, whereas a 3 in 12 gives 17’.

The higher pitches provide more room for clearstory windows on the East wall. Eastern light is crucial, since if light only came from the South there would be glare (Pattern #159, Light on two sides of every room).

The higher pitches also give more interior space, which could be used for material storage or in a later loft conversion.

Conditioned space

With a 3:12 slope there’s room to build a standalone conditioned space within the larger workshop. A ~ 250 sqft “office” would be easy to heat in the winter and cool in the summer, and it’d provide a quiet, dust-free space for glue-ups, remote operation of the CNC mill, and sensitive electronics work.

The “roof” of the office has about 6–8’ of clearance above it, and so could be used for material storage or as an additional workspace, making the office’s 250 sqft footprint essentially “free”:

Porch

All buildings are better with porches. The porch should have a low, sheltering roof (Pattern #117) close enough for people to touch.

The porch and entrance will probably be on the South face of the building, providing a place with a view:

I like the look of where this is going — but I’m not getting too attached. Depending on the final site conditions, I may need to move things around.

In the mean time, the next step is to figure out a rough interior layout. More on that next time.